The Month in Grime / Dubstep

If 2003 was the year grime incubated a staggering new culture and 2004 when the rest of the world woke up to that culture, then 2005 was when that grime took up the fight for legitimacy in its very own country.

This battle was spearheaded by the successes of Roll Deep, Kano, and Lethal B. Roll Deep's commercial-sounding In at the Deep End LP generated impressive sales and mainstream media coverage without unduly damaging the entourage's street following (though all might not be well with the deal). By consolidating the best talent from Pay As U Go, Meridian, OT, and Bomb Squad under the Roll Deep banner, Wiley kept the crew miles ahead of the underground competition, thanks to their flagship show on London's leading pirate Rinse FM.

"In at the Deep End's" musical direction, however, was almost a complete admission that grime could not, in its current innovative, angry, and groundbreaking form spread beyond its current two comparatively financially unrewarding fanbases (inner city London and global cutting-edge music fans). "I spent £30,000 on studio time to make a record that would please people who weren't ready for grime," admitted Wiley recently. Kano's album seemed to reflect this analysis, presenting a clean and anodyne snapshot of the ex-NASTY Crew member's electric energy.

The two exceptions to this "real grime won't sell' rule-- Dizzee Rascal and Lethal B's "Forward/Pow"-- still appear to be just that: exceptions. Dizzee's street fan base criticized him when he first went through, but it now looks like he will be the best ambassador for the grime sound the scene could ask for, as he drops riddims and rhymes that both reflect the streets and sell units. But a Mercury Music Prize will do that for you. As for Lethal B's "Forward", its combination of raw sonics and commercial success might have made Wiley feel sick but he needn't have worried. The rest of Lethal's album didn't have half the impact, leaving the Boundary MC also unhappy with his label situation.

Many MCs see grime as a way out of their current social situation. The sad thing is, 2005 has suggested this might be a misnomer-- certainly in the short term and via the major label route. The MCs Wiley was tipping in 2003-- Kano, Lethal B, Durrty Goodz, Dizzee-- are today still the only ones with major label deals.

Consider the UK music industry in layers, ranked by financial clout. On the top layer you have the major labels. In the middle you've got the MCs. A few of these MCs-- again Roll Deep, Dizzee, Lethal, Kano, Goodz-- have major label deals, interacting with the top layer as best they can.

Below them is the bottom layer, London's streets: Hundreds of thousands of hungry new MCs, wannabe "artists." They look upward and see Roll Deep and co. They want to be on that level so they imitate what they think got Roll Deep there-- war (aka beef), clashing, gun lyrics, and fearsome levels of aggression. More and more MCs pile into this middle layer, trying to get where Roll Deep are. Except in 2005 the barrier between the major labels and the top MCs has been proven to be a glass ceiling. Nothing even Jammer, JME, Ruff Sqwad, Doctor, Slew Dem, Bear Man, Skepta have done in 2005 has lead them to record deals.

The result is grime has become a pressure cooker. More new MCs rise into the ranks by starting war, yet no MCs at the top of the level get rewarded for their labour. So the scene becomes angrier, filled with infighting and mutual hatred. This is a bitter situation since it not only blocks grime's primary route (signing to a major), it makes secondary directions-- independent collectivism or global recognition-- even harder too.

Nonetheless given the glass ceiling blocking the way up, there are two ways out: left or right. Either the scene builds its own infrastructure and curbs its desire for quick money, or it works with people outside the UK.

The only person seemingly building his own infrastructure to represent grass roots grime is Dizzee Rascal with his Dirtee Stank label. Newham Generals signed to the label and spent most of 2005 writing an album. Early previews suggest it's true to grime's vision, and if their recent sets are anything to go by, great things are yet to come. Hopefully if Newham Generals are prepared to work hard and accept a sustainable long term vision instead of short term massive success, they can build a really strong platform and publicly represent what makes grime so vital.

The other avenue global expansion of grime remains a beguiling issue. Though debated here, it remains to be seen how grime is affected when it migrates abroad, removing parts of its core identity: inner city culture, a London accent, live MCs-- or all of the above. Now that grime's expanding globally, will it still truly be grime culture anymore? If a DJ, without a grime MC, in a far off country plays a grime vocal 12" to an audience none of whom are part of grime's London demographic, how is that the same culture as Roll Deep at Eskimo Dance? 2006 should be an interesting year.

No reflection on grime in 2005 should be without the efforts of Logan Sama. From early "00s forum stalwart to A-list grime DJ, 2005 was his year. His leaving show from the station that made his name, Rinse FM, was landmark radio. The sound of shock in Jammer's voice when he first hears the fresh Vybez Kartel-over-grime dubplate Logan draws for is electrifying. Moving to legal station Kiss 100, his strong East London links make him essential listening. If you're looking for must-have Logan Sama-style vocal grime cuts from 2005, check his post on the RWD forum.

While many people put in massive efforts, dubstep in 2005 was dominated by two forces: Digital Mystikz and Skream.

Each of the Digital Mystikz's DMZ nights singularly lifted the scene like pillars on a suspension bridge. Infrequent enough to remain special, they soon became the dubstep night the scene all focused on. Beats were built strictly for that vast, bassy system. The night, led by Mala's house-inflected vision, also changed the dynamics of the scene, making possible epic "up" anthems like his own "Neverland".

Mala DMZ back-to-back with Loefah were perhaps the defining dubstep sets of 2005, contrasting Mala's style with Loefah's ultra-minimal dread halfstep. In the contest for set of the year, DJ Youngsta puts in a good showing for the first six months of 2005. His deployment of Loefah and D1 dubs was a textbook example of how to make your mark as a DJ. Find a source of exciting music, drive it in a coherent musical direction and ensure no one does it better than you. By late summer Youngsta sets did perhaps begin to sound tired, but only because they had such clear identity and were suffering from over exposure.

It was also good year for new production talent, lots of which came through DJ Hatcha. DJ Distance expanded his palate from breakstep to dubstep, dropping some landmark riddims, not least the droning Arabic anthem "Fallen". Other beats like "Temptation" and "My Demons' bode well for his debut set DMZ on January 7.

Other highlights of the year were Coki DMZ with "Stuck,' Random Trio's deeper than deep "Indian Stomp", Kode 9's "Kingstown" (though in fairness "Correction", "Ghost Town", "Backwards", and "9 Samurai" hit the spot too). Kode's Hyperdub label also released original music from Burial and The Bug, expanding the imprint's vision. Scuba came with a distinctive, clean electronica-influenced sound with "Timba.' Caspa and L Wiz from the Quiet Storm stable are well worth watching for in 2006, as is Bristol's Pinch. The latter's "Qawaali' should be dropping on Planet Mu next year-- an essential purchase when it drops.

Alongside Pinch, two dubstep DJs who look set to have massive 2006s are N Type and Joe Nice. The former's combination of excellent selection and comedy radio presenting made his Rinse show a joy to listen to. With the backing of all the big producers plus an ear and thirst for new ones, N Type could yet have an even bigger impact in 2006.

What N Type shares with Joe Nice is the will to find new producers, not just draw new dubs from the same producers-- something that's essential to the current health of the scene. No one would want a "glass ceiling" effect to the top DJs sets, and Joe Nice and N Type prevent that.

What's also interesting about Joe Nice is that he's based in the U.S., but in many ways very much part of the UK scene. Spurred on by the success of Digital Mystikz and Skream, 2005 was the year the dubstep scene realized it had an international fanbase. How this evolves in 2006-- as international nights, labels and production bases begin to strengthen-- should be very interesting to observe.

There was also success for artists who take a different approach to the post-dark garage vibe, such as Vex'd and Boxcutter. While both are entirely different, they each generated a large following, culminating in Vex'd touring the U.S. with grime producer Plasticman.

But if there's one record that dominated dubstep, and for the first time ever a fair chunk of grime too, it's Skream's "Midnight Request Line". A futtering electro-anthem, it got props from grime's Roll Deep (the first dubstep record ever to do so), microhouse's Ricardo Villalobos, critic Simon Reynolds, and eclectic Radio 1 DJ Rob Da Bank. Like all true anthems, it had an evergreen intense emotional impact that barely wore off a whole year after it emerged. Are we on air dubstep? Yes we are.